Image processing apparatus having user login function, control method therefore, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus which is capable of improving ease of operation for users and also improving security when destinations are made public. The image processing apparatus is shared by a plurality of users and capable of selecting a destination from a plurality of address books and carrying out file transmission to the destination. It is determined whether or not a user has logged in, and when it is determined that the user has logged in, only personal addresses for the logged-in user are displayed on a display unit. The personal destinations displayed on the display unit are switched to destinations other than the personal destinations according to selection by the user. When it is determined that the user has not logged in, all destinations which are registered in the plurality of address books are displayed on the display unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, acontrol method therefor, and a computer-readable storage medium storinga control program for implementing the method, and in particular to amethod of managing destination tables in an image processing apparatushaving a user login function.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, information processing apparatuses such as digitalmultifunction peripherals have offered a function of digitalizing andtransmitting a scanned document to a given destination by electronicmail and a function of carrying out file transmission (such as SMBtransmission) to a given destination.

Also, because it is inconvenient to input information on a destination(such as a server name, a user name, an address, and a password) eachtime, a destination is registered in advance in an address book in animage processing apparatus so that transmission can easily be donemerely by selecting the destination from the address book.

Further, because an image processing apparatus such as a digitalmultifunction peripheral is shared by a plurality of users, ease of useis further improved by enabling registration of a personal address book(see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No.2006-042264).

However, if both a personal address book and a shared address bookavailable to all users are usable, the personal address book and theshared address book will be displayed in a manner being mixed. Thus, aproblem that even when only destinations in the personal address bookare desired to be used, destinations in the shared address book are alsodisplayed, resulting in degradation in ease of operation for users willarise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an image processing apparatus and acontrol method therefor, which are capable of improving ease ofoperation for users and also improving security when destinations aremade public, as well as a computer-readable storage medium storing acontrol program for implementing the method.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides an imageprocessing apparatus that is shared by a plurality of users and capableof selecting a destination from a plurality of address books andcarrying out file transmission to the destination, comprising a displayunit, a login state determination unit configured to determine whether auser has logged in, a first display control unit configured to, when thelogin state determination unit determines that the user has logged in,display on the display unit only personal addresses for the logged-inuser, a display switching unit configured to switch the personaldestinations displayed on the display unit to destinations other thanthe personal destinations according to selection by the user, and asecond display control unit configured to, when the login statedetermination unit determines that the user has not logged in, displayall destinations, which are registered in the plurality of addressbooks, on the display unit.

Accordingly, a second aspect of the present invention provides a controlmethod for an image processing apparatus that is shared by a pluralityof users and capable of selecting a destination from a plurality ofaddress books and carrying out file transmission to the destination,comprising a login state determination step of determining whether auser has logged in, a first display control unit step of, it isdetermined in the login state determination step that the user haslogged in, displaying on a display unit only personal addresses for thelogged-in user, a display switching step of switching the personaldestinations displayed on the display unit to destinations other thanthe personal destinations according to selection by the user, and asecond display control step of, when it is determined in the login statedetermination step that the user has not logged in, displaying alldestinations, which are registered in the plurality of address books, onthe display unit.

Accordingly, a third aspect of the present invention provides anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program forimplementing a control method for an image processing apparatus that isshared by a plurality of users and capable of selecting a destinationfrom a plurality of address books and carrying out file transmission tothe destination, the control method comprising a login statedetermination step of determining whether a user has logged in, a firstdisplay control unit step of, it is determined in the login statedetermination step that the user has logged in, displaying on a displayunit only personal addresses for the logged-in user, a display switchingstep of switching the personal destinations displayed on the displayunit to destinations other than the personal destinations according toselection by the user, and a second display control step of, when it isdetermined in the login state determination step that the user has notlogged in, displaying all destinations, which are registered in theplurality of address books, on the display unit.

According to the present invention, because when destinations aredisplayed in a state where a user has logged in, only personaldestinations for the logged-in user are displayed at default, and otherdestinations are not displayed, ease of operation for users can beenhanced. Moreover, when personal destinations are to be open to theview of a group or all users, they can be prevented from being madepublic in a state of including personal information on a user, and hencesecurity can be improved when destinations are made public.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a network environment to whichan image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention is connected.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an arrangement of theimage processing apparatus appearing in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an exemplary logged-in user's destinationdisplay process carried out by the image processing apparatus accordingto the first embodiment.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are views showing exemplary address book display screensdisplayed on an operation unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an exemplary logged-in user's destinationregistration process carried out by the image processing apparatus.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views showing exemplary destination registrationscreens displayed on the operation unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing exemplary table information in which groupinformation is registered.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing exemplary table information indicative ofuser/groups to which transmission destinations are open.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an exemplary logged-in user's destinationpublication process carried out by an image processing apparatusaccording to a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an exemplary warning screen displayed on theoperation unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe drawings showing embodiments thereof.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a network environment to whichan image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention is connected.

Referring to FIG. 1, image forming apparatuses 103 and 105 have afunction of converting scanned originals into electronic form, and afunction of transmitting scanned originals to a file-sharing server 101and a mail server 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an arrangement of theimage processing apparatus 103 appearing in FIG. 1. It should be notedthat the image processing apparatus 105 has the same arrangement as thatof the image processing apparatus 103, and therefore, descriptionthereof is omitted.

A CPU 201 controls the overall operation of the image processingapparatus by loading programs stored in a ROM 209 into a RAM 208. TheCPU 201 also carries out communications with units in the imageprocessing apparatus via a bus 202. An operation unit 206 includes aconsole having various keys and buttons for users to give instructions,and a display that displays various information which users should benotified of.

A scanner unit 205 is an image reading unit that reads an image on anoriginal, which is placed on an original platen glass, not shown, by auser, as a color image. The scanner unit 205 also includes an originalfeeder and successively feeds a plurality of originals placed on theoriginal feeder onto the original platen glass so that images can beread. Data converted into electronic form (image data) by the scannerunit 205 is stored in an HDD 203, the RAM 208, and so on. The HDD 203 isa hard disk drive including a hard disk and stores image data andvarious user data (such as an address book).

A printer unit 204 is a printing unit that prints an image based onimage data, which is obtained through scanning by the scanner unit 205,on a recording sheet (sheet). A network I/F 207 establishes connectionwith a network 104 using a predetermined communication method andtransmits image data obtained through scanning by the scanner unit 205to the file-sharing server 101 and the mail server 102 on the network. AFAX 210 transmits and receives electronic data (image data) via atelephone line.

Referring next to FIG. 3, a description will be given of a logged-inuser's destination display process carried out by the image processingapparatus 103.

Referring to FIG. 3, upon receiving an instruction to display an addressbook from a user via the operation unit 206 (step S301), the CPU 201determines whether or not the user has logged in the image processingapparatus 103 (step S302). In the step S302, the CPU 201 acts as a loginstate determination unit. When determining that the user has not loggedin, the CPU 201 generates an address book display screen 600 as shown inFIG. 4C from all addresses in one or a plurality of address books storedin the HDD 203, and displays the address book display screen 600 on theoperation unit 206 (step S306). In the step S306, the CPU 201 acts as asecond display control unit. As for the destinations displayed here,those allowed to be made public may be obtained from the addressbook(s). When determining that the user has not logged in, the CPU 201may determine that a guest user has logged in, obtain destinations thatare allowed to be open to the view of the guest user, and display thosedestinations on the operation unit 206.

When determining in the step S302 that the user has logged in, the CPU201 obtains, from the address book(s) stored in the HDD 203, onlypersonal destinations for the logged-in user (step S303). Then, the CPU201 obtains, from the HDD 203, display icons (icon images) correspondingto the personal destinations for the logged-in user (step S304). Some ofthe display icons corresponding to the personal destinations can beregistered when the personal addresses for the logged-in user areregistered in the address book(s).

Next, the CPU 201 generates an address book display screen 600 as shownin FIG. 4A from the personal destination information on the userobtained in the step S303 and the display icons corresponding to thepersonal destinations for the user obtained in the step S304. Then, theCPU 201 displays the address book display screen 600 on the operationunit 206 (step S305) and terminates the present process. In the stepS305, the CPU 201 acts as a first display control unit.

Placed on the address book display screen 600 are a publication type601, a name 602, a transmission destination 603, a menu 604, a scrollbutton 605, a cancel button 606, an OK button 607, an addressregistration button 608, and so on. They are displayed on a screen suchas a touch panel and can be operated by touching their displaypositions.

As the publication type 601, publication target information indicativeof a publication target to which destinations are open, and a specificicon image corresponding to the publication target information aredisplayed. A display “Individual” means that destinations concerned arepersonally open to the view of an individual user. A display “Group”means that destinations concerned are open to the view of a group. Adisplay “All” means that destinations concerned are open to the view ofall individual users and group. It should be noted that although in thefigure, no specific icon image is displayed for “All”, any specific iconimage may be displayed. Moreover, icon images should not be limited tothe illustrated designs, but it is preferred that icon images forindividual, group, and all are designed so as to be easily identifiedand easily recognized by users.

As the name 602, a destination's name is displayed. Examples of thedestination's name include a name of a folder in the file-sharing server101, a company name, and so on. As the transmission destination 603,destination information registered in an address book is displayed.Examples of the destination information include a path in thefile-sharing server 101, a mail address, a fax number, and so on. Thescroll button 605 is an operation button for scrolling and displaying aplurality of pieces of destination information that cannot be displayedat a time. The destination registration button 608 is a button forregistering destinations as will be described later.

The menu 604 is for filtering and displaying destinations according tothe publication type 601, and configured to be able to select any ofindividual, group, and all. It should be noted that when destinationsare displayed in a state where a user has logged in, only personaldestinations for the logged-in user are displayed at default as shown inFIG. 4A, and even when “Individual” in the menu 604 is selected, thescreen switches to the address book display screen 600 shown in FIG. 4A.

When “Group” in the menu 604 is selected on the address book displayscreen 600 shown in FIG. 4A, the screen switches to a screen on whichdestinations open to the view of a group to which the user belongs aredisplayed as shown in FIG. 4B. At this time, the CPU 201 acts as adisplay switching unit. When the publication type is “Group”, an iconimage different from that in the case of “Individual” is displayed.Thus, a display is produced by switching personal destinations displayedon the operation unit 206 to destinations other than personal.

When “All” in the menu 604 is selected, the screen switches to a screenon which all the following destinations are displayed: personaldestinations for the logged-in user, destinations open to the view of agroup, and destinations open to the view of all users. At this time, theCPU 201 acts as a display switching unit. As shown in the figure, iconimages differ according to publication targets to which destinations areopen, and hence even when “All” is selected as the publication type,publication targets to which destinations are open can be identified ata glance, and ease of use for users can be enhanced.

As a result of the process in FIG. 3, when destinations are displayed ina state where a user has logged in, only personal destinations for thelogged-in user are displayed at default, and other destinations are notdisplayed, so that ease of operation for users can be enhanced. Itshould be noted that in the example shown in FIG. 3, the screen on whichpersonal destinations for the user are displayed as shown in FIG. 4A isdisplayed at default in the step S305. However, the screen on whichdestinations opened to the view of the group to which the user belongsare displayed as shown in FIG. 4B may be displayed at default instead ofthe screen on which the personal destinations for the user aredisplayed. Moreover, the screen displayed at default may be determinedaccording to the logged-in user by storing in the HDD 203 in advanceinformation as to whether a screen displayed at default in the step S305is the screen on which personal destinations for the user are displayedas shown in FIG. 4A or the screen on which destinations opened to theview of the group to which the user belongs are displayed as shown inFIG. 4B as setting information for each user.

Referring next to FIG. 5, a description will be given of a logged-inuser's destination registration process carried out by the imageprocessing apparatus 103.

Referring to FIG. 5, the CPU 201 receives a login request from a uservia the operation unit 206 and carries out a login process (step S401).The login request and the login process can be ordinary operation andprocess.

Then, upon receiving a destination registration instruction throughselection of a destination registration button 608 on the address bookdisplay screen 600, the CPU 201 carries out a process to display adestination registration screen as shown in FIG. 6A (step S402). Thisdestination registration screen is an exemplary screen for registering atransmission destination of an I-FAX, but may similarly be applied todestinations of other file transmission (such as SMB/FTB/WebDAV),e-mail, fax, and so on.

Upon receiving a destination registration screen display instruction inthe step S402, the CPU 201 obtains group information on the logged-inuser from table information 800 as shown in FIG. 7 stored in the HDD 203(step S403).

The table information 800 is managed in a state in which user names 801of users and group names 802 of groups to which the users belong arepaired. After obtaining a user name of the logged-in user, the CPU 201retrieves the corresponding user name from the table information 800 andthen obtains the corresponding group name. For example, when the username is “usr1”, the group name is “group1”. Some users may not belong toany groups, and in such cases, the group name is empty (“user2” and“user5” apply to this).

In step S404 in FIG. 5, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the groupinformation (group name) could be obtained from the table information800. When the group information could be obtained, the CPU 201 displaysa destination registration screen 700 as shown in FIG. 6A on theoperation unit 206 (step S405) and terminates the present process.

Placed on the destination registration screen 700 are a publicationtarget selection button 701, a destination registration field 702, afixed phrase registration field 703, a cancel button 704, an OK button705, and so on. They are displayed on a screen such as a touch panel andcan be operated by touching their display positions.

The publication target selection button 701 is configured to be able toselect any of “Only oneself”, “Group”, and “All” as a publicationtarget. In the destination registration field 702, destinationinformation that should be registered by a user such as a path in thefile-sharing server 101, a mail address, a fax number, or the like isentered. The fixed phrase registration field 703 has a function ofregistering sentences in advance so as to save a user from having toinput sentences that are frequently used. Because an I-FAX is close toan electronic mail, arbitrary characters input as a text by a user canbe transmitted as a mail text. Some devices have a function ofregistering sentences that are frequently used as fixed phrases so as tosave a user from having to input a text each time. It should be notedthat the fixed phrase registration field 703 may be dispensed with.

When “Oneself” is selected using the publication target selection button701, destination information registered in the destination registrationfield 702 is made public when a user logs in as described earlier withreference to FIG. 3. The registered destination information is adestination that can be used by only a registered user and cannot beused by a third party.

When “Group” is selected using the publication target selection button701, destination information registered in the destination registrationfield 702 is made public when the publication type is “Group” as shownin FIG. 4B. The registered destination information is a destination thatcan be used by only members of a group to which a user himself orherself belongs. For example, when usr1 selects “Group” using thepublication target selection button 701 on the destination registrationscreen 700, users of group1 to which user1 belongs can use thedestination.

Further, When “All” is selected using the publication target selectionbutton 701, destination information registered in the destinationregistration field 702 is on made public when the publication type is“All” as shown in FIG. 4C. The registered destination information can beused by all users.

On the destination registration screen 700 shown in FIG. 6A, a groupbutton among the publication target selection buttons 701 is displayedbecause the group name could be obtained in the step S404. On the otherhand, when the group name could not be obtained in the step S404, theCPU 201 hides the group button among the publication target selectionbuttons 701 and displays two items consisting of “Only oneself” and“All”. It should be noted that in the present embodiment, although thegroup button is hidden, the group button may be grayed out so as todisable depression of this button.

Destination information and publication target information input on thedestination registration screen 700 is registered in table information900 as shown in FIG. 8 and stored in the HDD 203.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing exemplary table information indicative ofusers/groups to which transmission destinations are open.

In the table information 900, destination information registered on thedestination registration screen 700 is registered as transmissiondestinations 901. As personal items 902, information indicative of usersto which the destination information registered as the transmissiondestinations 901 is open is registered. As group items 903, informationindicative of groups to which the destination information registered asthe transmission destinations 901 is open is registered. Transmissiondestinations for which the personal items 902 and the group items 903are blank are open to all users.

According to the first embodiment, because when destinations aredisplayed in a state where a user has logged in, only personaldestinations for the logged-in user are displayed at default, and otherdestinations are not displayed, ease of operation for users is enhanced.

Next, a description will be given of an image processing apparatusaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention. It should benoted that in the second embodiment, FIGS. 1, 2, and 6 to 8 are the sameas those in the first embodiment described above, and parts similar tothose in the first embodiment are denoted by the same referencenumerals, of which description is omitted. Only points differing fromthose in the first embodiment described above will be described below.

Referring to FIG. 9, a description will be given of a logged-in user'sdestination publication process carried out by the image processingapparatus 103.

Referring to FIG. 9, upon receiving an instruction to select apublication target for a destination on the destination registrationscreen 700 via the publication target selection button 701 (step S500),the CPU 201 determines whether or not the selected publication target isanything other than “Individual” (step S501). In the step S501, the CPU201 acts as a publication target determination unit. When determiningthat the selected publication target is “Individual”, the CPU 201proceeds to step S505. On the other hand, when determining that theselected publication target is not “Individual” but “Group” or “All”,the CPU 201 proceeds to step S502.

In the step S502, the CPU 201 determines whether or not personalinformation on a user is included in destination information registeredin the destination registration field 702. Here, the personalinformation on the user includes a user name, a password, and fixedphrases for use in I-FAX transmission or the like, and so on, which arerequired for file transmission (such as SMB/FTP/WebDAV). In the stepS502, the CPU 201 acts as a personal information determination unit.

When determining in the step S502 that no personal information on theuser is included, the CPU 201 proceeds to the step S505. On the otherhand, when determining in the step S502 that the personal information onthe user is included, the CPU 201 displays a warning screen 1000 asshown in FIG. 10 on the operation unit 206 (step S503). When a “Yes”button 1001 is selected on the warning screen 1000, the CPU 201registers the destination information, which has been registered in thedestination registration field 702, as it is in the table information900 (step S505).

On the other hand, when a “No” button 1002 is selected on the warningscreen 1000, the CPU 201 clears the destination information, which hasbeen registered in the destination registration field 702, and returnsto the destination registration screen 700 (step S506).

According to the second embodiment, when personal destinations are to beopen to the view of a group or all users, they can be prevented frombeing made public in a state of including personal information on auser, and hence security can be enhanced when destinations are madepublic.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Aspects of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of asystem or apparatus (or devices such as a CPU or MPU) that reads out andexecutes a program recorded on a memory device to perform the functionsof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method, the steps ofwhich are performed by a computer of a system or apparatus by, forexample, reading out and executing a program recorded on a memory deviceto perform the functions of the above-described embodiment(s). For thispurpose, the program is provided to the computer for example via anetwork or from a recording medium of various types serving as thememory device (e.g., computer-readable medium).

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2011-250541 filed Nov. 16, 2011, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A data transmitting apparatus that is shared by aplurality of users, comprising: a storage unit configured to store aplurality of destination addresses, wherein an address book is comprisedof at least a part of the plurality of destination addresses stored inthe storage unit, and wherein the plurality of destination addressesinclude a destination address which is made public to a specific user, adestination address which is made public to a specific group including aplurality of users and a destination address which is made public to anyuser; a transmitting unit configured to transmit image data to at leastone destination address selected from the plurality of destinationaddresses stored in the storage unit; and a display control unitconfigured to, when receiving an instruction to register a new addressfrom a user who has logged in to the data transmitting apparatus, (i)generate, if the user belongs to at least one group, a first registeringscreen with which it is selectable to register the new address to beregistered as the destination address which is made public to the user,as the destination address which is made public to the group to whichthe user belong, or as the destination address which is made public tothe any user, and (ii) generate, if the user does not belong to anygroup, a second registering screen with which it is selectable toregister the new address to be registered as the destination addresswhich is made public to the user or as the destination address which ismade public to the any user.
 2. The data transmitting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the storage unit further storesinformation indicating a correspondence between the plurality of usersof the data transmitting apparatus and a group corresponding to at leastone of the plurality of users.
 3. The data transmitting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays thefirst registering screen or the second registering screen on a displayunit.
 4. A controlling method for a data transmitting apparatus that isshared by a plurality of users, comprising: storing a plurality ofdestination addresses in a storage unit, wherein an address book iscomprised of at least a part of the plurality of destination addressesstored in the storage unit, and wherein the plurality of destinationaddresses include a destination address which is made public to aspecific user, a destination address which is made public to a specificgroup including a plurality of users and a destination address which ismade public to any user; transmitting image data to at least onedestination address selected from the plurality of destination addressesstored in the storage unit; and generating, when receiving aninstruction to register a new address from a user who has logged in tothe data transmitting apparatus, (i) if the user belongs to at least onegroup, a first registering screen with which it is selectable toregister the new address to be registered as the destination addresswhich is made public to the user, as the destination address which ismade public to the group to which the user belong, or as the destinationaddress which is made public to the any user, and (ii) if the user doesnot belong to any group, a second registering screen with which it isselectable to register the new address to be registered as thedestination address which is made public to the user or as thedestination address which is made public to the any user.
 5. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium which stores a programfor causing a processor to execute a controlling method for a datatransmitting apparatus that is shared by a plurality of users, thecontrolling method comprising: generating, when receiving an instructionto register a new address from a user who has logged in to the datatransmitting apparatus, (i) if the user belongs to at least one group, afirst registering screen with which it is selectable to register the newaddress to be registered as the destination address which is made publicto the user, as the destination address which is made public to thegroup to which the user belong, or as the destination address which ismade public to the any user, and (ii) if the user does not belong to anygroup, a second registering screen with which it is selectable toregister the new address to be registered as the destination addresswhich is made public to the user or as the destination address which ismade public to the any user.